Prayer, Mission, and Divine Filiation in Saint Anthony Mary Claret (1807–1870): An Analysis Based on the Reception of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius and Nineteenth-Century Spirituality

In the Spanish 19th century, Saint Anthony Mary Claret found in the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius a suitable mediation to reinforce his missionary and evangelizing work. In his vital journey as a man, disciple, and apostle, he experienced deeply and fruitfully that the Spiritual Exercises are a methodology that enables the conversion of sinners while reinforcing the perseverance of those who live their Christian journey with conviction. Furthermore, they promote spiritual renewal in all states of Christian life, resulting in an increase in active and committed evangelizers. In this way, his “filial and apostolic prayer” reflects and condenses—with four affective and active verbs—his personal experience of the Exercises, which he offered to others at all stages of his apostolic life in order to transform their lives and renew the Church of his time.